According to Dennis at the "The Waltzing Matilda Story" site, Banjo Paterson wrote the words, put to the tune "The Craigielee March" for the well known "Waltzing Matilda". I'm surprised that Craigielee isn't in the database. Has anyone seen it elsewhere ? The site, noted above, is fascinating, showing the original manuscript for the song "Waltzing Matilday" and, among other things, it doesn't refer to any Jolly Swagman as we have been taught to believe. Did someone rewrite Banjo Paterson's original or what? Just curious. RonU

I know I heard Waltzing Matilda sung in a movie to a different tune than that which is commonly heard. Can't tell you the name of the movie, but it was set in Australia. Doesn't narrow it down much, I know. A very animated gentleman was singing the song on stage.

a bunch of stuff I found in 2 hours of searching 'Waltzing Matilda' sites and related words....(I was looking for a picture of a coolabah tree to illustrate the internal 'joke' or error, in the song mentioned at the bottom...coolabah trees are lousy shade trees!!)

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A Coolabah tree was pointed out as we drove zipping by. The interesting thing about this Eucalypt is that the leaves turn to place themselves parallel with the sun's rays, thus having minimum heating, and leaving very little shadow. The song says, "Once a jolly swagman sat beside the billabong, under the shade of a Coolabah tree. It must have been a very little shade. Like in Oh Susanna!,--- it rained all night the day I left, the weather it was dry, sun so hot I froze to death, Susanna, don't you cry. I didn't know the Waltzing Matilda song had double meanings, but It does.

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he Combo Water Hole is one such patch of muddy water. Its legend is etched into the history of Australia. Banjo Paterson has immortalised the story of a swagman, a jumbuck, a squatter and the law in such a way that myth and truth merge together and become indistinguishable from each other.

Folklore has it that Banjo was told the story of the suicide of a Samuel Hoffmeister beside the Diamantina 20 kms upstream of the Combo Water Hole in September 1894. Hoffmeister had reportedly been one of the striking shearers involved in the burning down of the Dagworth Station shearing shed. This story, combined with others that Paterson heard, inspired him to write "Waltzing Matilda" at Dagworth in 1895.

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waltzing matilda

Matilda was a mock-romantic word for a swag, and to waltz matilda was to hit the road with a swag on your back. Very few non-Australians seem to understand this, and hence regard the song as gibberish or cute, something like 'Jabberwocky' set to music. "'Twas brillig and the slithy toves ..." indeed.

The term is thought to come from a German expression. Auf die Walz gehen means to take to the road, and Mathilde is a girl's name, applied to one's bed-roll.

So the poem (doggerel? folk song?) can be interpreted as yet another Aussie complaint about them in authority. We're one of the most urbanised nations in the world, who sort-of yearn for the wide open spaces (there's so much of it out there!), and the freedom that goes with it (or at least seems to go with it, to those that don't live there). So Waltzing Matilda strikes a chord (so to speak), generation after generation, for the same reason that Crocodile Dundee was as popular here as anywhere else - we know we're not like that; but it's fun pretending for a while that we are.

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WALTZING MATILDA

BALI VERSION

Once an Aussie tourist sunbaked on Kuta beach, Far from the shade of the coconut trees, and she sang as watched and waited for the sun to set, Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me?

Waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda. Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me? and she sang as she watched and waited for the sun to set, Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me?

Down came a hippie bloke selling dope on Kuta beach Up jumped the tourist and grabbed some with glee, And she sang as she shoved that ganja in her Qantas bag, You'll come a waltzing matilda with me.

Waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda. Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me? and she sang as watched and waited for the sun to set, Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me?

Down came the coppers mounted on their Honda bikes Down came their sniffer dogs, one, two, three. Where's that jolly ganja you've got in your Qantas bag, You'll come a waltzing matilda with me.

Waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda. Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me? and she sang as watched and waited for the sun to set, Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me?

Up jumped the tourist and sprang into the raging surf, You'll never catch me alive said she, And her ghost can't be heard if you pass by that rowdy beach, (sing softly) Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me? (sing loudly)

Bill, D., note you have the tune in Graham's 'Songs of Scotland' iii, p. 126-7. I don't know if the tune was composed before Tannaill died in 1810, but James Barr's tune is in the above, 1853, and was commented on by R. A. Smith as quoted in 1838. Barr is there said to have been a professional musician in Kilbarchan, who later went abroad. There has been much discussion of Tannahill's songs and their tunes on the Scots-L list in the last two weeks.

G'day, Forgot to mention that the Craigielea tune above is as originally published i.e. chorus first.

Here is the Christina McPherson tune for Matilda.

Notes: 1. Christina wrote out a couple of bars incorrectly, having 5 beats instead of 4. I have changed the timing of these 2 bars to 4 beats, leaving the actual notes unchanged.

2. The tune as sung by Dennis O'Keeffe on his CD unfortunately is completely different at this point. In fact the first line of the chorus has basically been replaced with the equivalent part of the tune as we know it today. This arrangement by Magoffin/Berryman.

3. With imagination you can see (hear) the connection to Craigielea. The differences could be explained by (a) The band probably played a variation, in fact they called it "The Craigielea March", (b) Christina may have unconsciously changed the tune in the months between hearing it and the birth of Matilda, (c) It was then adapted to the words, although Banjo said, "I put words to the tune and called it "Waltzing Matilda"'.

4. More imagination links this tune to the two tunes currently in use - evolution by the Folk Process.

Bill D, Your comments are spot on. I don't reckon there's much doubt that "Frenchie" Hoffmeister's suicide (by gun) on 2 September 1894 was Banjo's inspiration. Note that Banjo's words were "camped IN the billabong". More on this later.

Note that the CD referred to by Phideaux is the one I just referred to by Dennis O'Keeffe and is definitely worth having.

The link provided by Joe and Phideaux is well worth a visit.

BTW it's because of Waltzing Matilda that I started signing on here as Alan of Australia. See the "Folk songs to ditch" thread of a few months ago.

Down came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee And he said as he put him away in the tucker bag You'll come a'waltzing Matilda with me.

Down came the squatter a'riding his thoroughbred Down came policeman, one, two, three Whose is the jumbuck you've got in the tucker bag You'll come a'waltzing Matilda with me.

But the swagman, he up and he jumped in the waterhole Drowning himself by the coolibah tree And his ghost may be heard as it sings by the billabong Who'll come a'waltzing Matilda with me.

Note that the swagman was not jolly in this version and he camped IN the billabong. Unless it was the wet season the billabong would only have had water in the "deep end" and the rest of the area would have been very suitable for camping, providing the best shade - even a coolibah tree provides some shade. He also led his waterbag i.e. it dangled behind him as he walked.

G'day, Here are the words to the Qld version. As you can see these words are almost identical to Banjo's original.

WALTZING MATILDA Queensland Version

C Am F G7 Oh there once was a swagman camped in a billabong C Am Dm G7 Under the shade of a coolibah tree C Em Am Dm G7 And he sang as he looked at his old billy boiling C Am Dm G7 C Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.

I must admit I have not read all the information in the Waltzing Matilda site, and the reference to the Hoffmeister suicide as a framework for the song is also new to me.

However I came to believe, during my time in Oz, that the song has a totally different meaning to the superficial one it portrays. Dave de Hugard did a sort of rambling monologue on the subject at one of his festival performances, and asked the question why should a squatter (a man who would have owned a piece of land bigger than several English counties put together) take an interest in a man stealing one sheep. There are other anomilies that I will not detail here, and some of which have been noted above.

I think its an allegory on the 1891 sheep shearers strike, and any other messages hidden in it, including the shade joke identified above, are meant to make the listener say "is there something else in this"

There is a song called the ballad of 1891, which deals with the subject more directly.

Whilst we are talking about Banjo Paterson, is it possible that he may have written "Only The Two Of Us", that I mentioned and posted last week? Some of the boys at the Pub yesterday evening thought that to be the case but, they had less than thin evidence.

Hmmm. I wonder why you have a problem, BillD. It looks OK on my MS Internet Explorer. I figure he had to get a font that would accommodate the chords. Didn't work on your browser, eh? I wonder why.-Joe Offer-

Bill, The font I specified was 'monospace'. This is a generic font which should translate to a monospace font e.g. courier. This allowed me to place chords above the appropriate words. It worked on three systems at least, my system at home, at work (both win95b MSIE 3.0) and Alison's (win95b MSIE 4.0).

Your message has given me two surprises: 1. Mudcat seems to have changed 'monospace' to 'courier'. 2. Your system seems to have translated 'courier' into some other font. Presumably it's a font installed on your system. Do you have courier installed?

Other users: What have you found? How was it laid out on your system? In the end though, I suppose it's no good doing something fancy unless ALL users can benefit.

Alan...yes, I have courier installed...and I have NO font 'installed' that is remotely close to what it shows...I do have a couple in 'storage' that have a 'bit' of that look...In the 'view source', it still says 'font face=courier'..although the word 'courier' itself is in a light blue color instead of black. Have no idea what happened...never saw it do anything like this before..I think I will send you a screen capture of how it appeared on my screen...

Hmmm. I haven't seen a "Monospace" font anywhere but in the Writings of Alan. Must be one of those exotic Australian fonts, or something, right up there with the poison purple octopusses. Maybe Mudcat substituted a font it recognized. Maybe Mudcat has a mind of its own.-Joe Offer-

Joe,You won't find a 'monospace' font anywhere, but if your browser sees &ltfont face=monospace&gt in the source it will translate it to the most appropriate font i.e. courier on most systems. I have checked and can confirm that it was me who specified 'courier' for the Qld version when I really meant 'monospace'. Mudcat is blameless as usual.

G'day, Here is the most widely known version of Waltzing Matilda, ARRANGED by Marie Cowan in 1903 for Jimmy Inglis, to be used in a Billy Tea promotion. Inglis had heard the song being sung by Boer war veterans in Sydney pubs.

This is not quite the same as the version in the DT, but it's the way we sing it here.

WALTZING MATILDA

D A Bm G Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong D A7 D Under the shade of a coolibah tree A Bm G And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled D A7 D You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.

Down came the jumbuck to drink at the billabong Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tuckerbag You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me. Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tuckerbag You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.

Up jumped the swagman, sprang into the billabong You'll never catch me alive said he And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me. Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me.

Don't think that I've heard the "Waltzing Matilda" tune that's in the database, either. Can anybody tell us anything about it? The Queensland version and the one Alan just posted are the tunes I'm familiar with.-Joe Offer-

G'day,There's a song called The Bold Fusilier which uses the Cowan version of the Matilda tune. It has been suggested that Paterson simply rewrote this song. Here is what Richard Magoffin says about it:-

There is an English song which pretends to come from the time of the Duke of Marlborough, "The Bold (or Gay) Fusilier", but it is really a parody of "Waltzing Matilda" from the Boer war, which was attended by the fusiliers, by Banjo Paterson, and many other Australians who sang our song. (Also, although irrelevant here, by Marlborough's descendant Sir Winston Churchill - A of A).

There is no record anywhere of the existence of this song prior to 1900 by way of any manuscript.

The British Museum wrote in 1968 that they had never found any trace of the song. The British Folk Song and Dance Society had received many requests but, likewise, found no record.

The Mayor of Rochester and the editor of the Fusilier's magazine were challenged some years ago to present pre-Matilda evidence for their song. They were not able to do so, while insisting that hearsay evidence in England was sufficient. English folklore authority, Vaughan Williams, considered that the earlier existence of the song was very doubtful because its language was not appropriate to the early eighteenth century period it pretended to represent.

There are two versions of this in the DT:-MARCHING THROUGH ROCHESTER and COME BE A SOLDIER FOR MARLBORO AND ME These are attributed to Peter Coe. Both are significantly different from the version on Peter and Chris Coe's "Open The Door And Let Us In" album whose sleeve notes say of "The Gay Fusilier": A recruiting song set at the turn of the 18th century. Peter found the first verse and directions for the tune (said to be originally English) in a magazine, but after searching unsuccessfully for the rest of the song, he wrote the additional verses himself.

I remember the 1950s movie, "On the Beach" [film version of Neville Shute's book) had a brief snatch of Waltzing Matilda sung to a slightly different tune (it sounded folkier than the popular renditions one normally hears). The movie featured Gregory Peck and Fred Astaire (in a rare non dancing role) ... Oh you can carry on with the music discussion now...

I know it is nearly impossible to describe a tune in words (unless you are a piper and trained to their coded note-speech (~cantara?) but the distinguishing point about the Queensland (or Buderim) version of Waltzing Matilda is the octave jump from the first bar to the second.

This is quite distinctive (although scarcely unique) and occurs in the first, second and fourth lines and is the sort of thing that Wotcha may just remember.

I seem to recall Pete Coe's account of this was aired on uk.m.f. some little while back so a DejaNews search might turn something up - although I expect Richard Bridge will shortly forward the definitive version here.

And while Pete Coe is "in the frame" - his current working outfit, Ryburn Three Step, have received very enthusiastic receptions to their work at Sidmouth this year and last year; look out for them, they are a real treat. AND it seems the magnificent New Victory Band album is likely to be re-released on CD (unfortunately most of Pete & co's past recordings are lost in the black hole called Celtic Music of Harrogate . . )

G'day, Just thought I'd paste this from one of my earlier posts in this thread:-

Peter and Chris Coe's "Open The Door And Let Us In" album whose sleeve notes say of "The Gay Fusilier": A recruiting song set at the turn of the 18th century. Peter found the first verse and directions for the tune (said to be originally English) in a magazine, but after searching unsuccessfully for the rest of the song, he wrote the additional verses himself.

However there appears to be no sign of this song before the Boer war, which was strongly represented by Aussies. If it did exist before then it could easily have picked up the Matilda tune at that time. (See earlier posts).

Seems to me that Sing Out magazine had a piece about the origins of the song, where it came from about one or two issues back. You may want to check with them. I recall the Waltzing Matilda was written to commemorate a strike.

Good idea for all to check publication(s) by Richard Maclaughlin on origins and explanations of the allegory of WM. Note: It was announced today that RM was awarded an OAM for his services Australian folklore. In short, Paterson was really writing about the plight and freedoms of the Australian people in allegory form - same tactic as the writers of many of the common nursery rhymes of today. I was surprised that there was no references to RM here.

A cracking song that uses Waltzing Matilda as its base is "AND THE BAND PLAYED WALTZING MATILDA" written by Eric Bogle. This song really is a masterpiece that's been recorded by many artists.

AND THE BAND PLAYED WALTZING MATILDA (written by Eric Bogle)

When I was a young man I carried my pack And I lived the free life of a rover From the Murrays green basin to the dusty outback I waltzed my Matilda all over Then in nineteen fifteen my country said Son It's time to stop rambling 'cause there's work to be done So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun And they sent me away to the war And the band played Waltzing Matilda As we sailed away from the quay And amidst all the tears and the shouts and the cheers We sailed off to Gallipoli

How well I remember that terrible day How the blood stained the sand and the water And how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter Johnny Turk he was ready, he primed himself well He chased us with bullets, he rained us with shells And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell Nearly blew us right back to Australia But the band played Waltzing Matilda As we stopped to bury our slain We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs Then we started all over again

Now those that were left, well we tried to survive In a mad world of blood, death and fire And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive But around me the corpses piled higher Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over tit And when I woke up in my hospital bed And saw what it had done, I wished I was dead Never knew there were worse things than dying For no more I'll go waltzing Matilda All around the green bush far and near For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legs No more waltzing Matilda for me

So they collected the cripples, the wounded, the maimed And they shipped us back home to Australia The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay I looked at the place where my legs used to be And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me To grieve and to mourn and to pity And the band played Waltzing Matilda As they carried us down the gangway But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared Then turned all their faces away

And now every April I sit on my porch And I watch the parade pass before me And I watch my old comrades, how proudly they march Reliving old dreams of past glory And the old men march slowly, all bent, stiff and sore The forgotten heroes from a forgotten war And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?" And I ask myself the same question And the band plays Waltzing Matilda And the old men answer to the call But year after year their numbers get fewer Some day no one will march there at all

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda Who'll go a waltzing Matilda with me And their ghosts may be heard as you pass the Billabong Who'll go a waltzing Matilda with me?

I heard a very interesting verion of the song in Kiama on the weekend, as performed by Tursacan. Inspired by Christina McPherson's 5/4 bar, they perform the whole song in 5/4, and surprisingly it WORKS REALLY WELL!

I've also - somewhere - heard an absolutely appalling parody of Waltzing My Timor, which starts off "once a jolly digger camped by the Kokoda trail". The Kokoda trail is in PNG, not Timor, and the song just gets WORSE from there!)

I just discovered this ancient thread on various aspects of 'Waltzing Matilda'. (It was the *sole* link that MetaCrawler turned up for 'The Gay Fusilier' - apart from gay sites, of course). Thanks to Alan from Australia for providing precisely the answers I needed, which naturally originated with Richard Magoffin.

One of the postings in this thread back in '98 raided my 'Waltzing Matilda' site - "the original and most authoritative site", trust me (:-)} - without giving the URL, which I thought was poor form.

Enhancements to my site are always very welcome!! http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/WM/

In the 'resurrection' of this thread earlier this week (which I hadn't read before) I saw a passing reference to the Kokoda Trail, scene of Australia's hour of greatest danger in World War II. Makes me wonder if there are any songs dealing with it?

Nice to know someone out there remembers Tursacan - we haven't had a gig in a while. Our drummer, Mark Campbell, is a fan of 5/4, 7/8 and occasionally 11 beat rhythms, so he'd be delighted to know you liked our versions! He decided that Christina McPherson's 5/4 bar was not a mistake, but the rest of the song in 4/4 was. We kinda like the way it pumps along in 5/4.

Just came into this thread. "There's only the two of us her" is attributed to Ted Harrington and Slim Dusty by Jim Haynes in his book "An Australain Heritage of Verse" (ABC Books, Sydney, 2001. ISBN 0 7333 0898 8).

I'm not sure if this means that E J Harrington wrote the words, and Slim later put them to music. Harrington did write some interesting stuff. I'll have to check the "Mad Dog" Morgan thread to see whether Harrinton's poem about Morgan gets a mention.

Just for the record, my fave version of "Waltzing Matilda" is by The Mills Sisters of (dear old) Darwin, in Australia's Northern Territory, where (I think) they sing it in their (Aboriginal) Larrakeyah (or Finniss River, was it??) language!!!

Presumably Slim Dusty has sung a version of Ted Harrington's There's Only The Two Of Us Here ... and may have put a tune to it. The poem is certainly by Ted Harrington. (I was just chasing Ted's My Old Black Billy for someone in another forum.)

Thanks for the link to Roger Clarke's latest Waltzing Matilda site. (You may have noticed that he posted in this thread- about 18 months ago.)

I do see that a line within the text that suggests the (non-musician) Clarke is still listening to 'cloth-eared' academics that can't see the relationship between the original Craigielea and Christina's tune for Waltzing Matilda.

If anyone is interested, I have a music file with all the successive steps in order, in the same key (D) and the progression is obvious ... as it is from the dots ... if you can read!

If anyone wants a copy, they can PM me and I can give them a PDF or GIFF image of the dots and/or a MIDI of the tunes.

Perhaps I am one of the "cloth-eared" ones. To me, there is enough difference between Christina MacPherson's tune and that of Craigielea to justify calling her the composer. I guess that this argument could go on and on. I base my argument on the original score for "Waltzing Matilda" as published here: MacPherson score

Now compare this with the music for the "Queensland version" at the Univ. Queensland site, which seems to be the sheet music published in 1903: Queensland score

Alan of Australia posted the midi file for Craigielea, 29 Jan 98 in thread 3857. Chords and lyrics are also given: Craigielea

Now the Cowan score is different from both of those given above. Alan gives the midi, etc. in the same 3857 thread. Here is the sheet music from the Univ. Queensland site: Cowan

OK, since like Clarke I have "cloth ears" I am going to turn tail and let the Aussies argue it out (retire to position of interested unaligned observer, behind barricade).

Since my typing and computer skills are rudimentary, here are the three links as I read them: http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/WM/Score.html (Original score). Queensland vers.: http://www.uq.edu.au/~mlwham/banjo/waltzing_matilda.html Cowan vers.: http://www.uq.edu.au/~mlwham/banjo/waltzing_matilda_2.html

> Subject: RE: Craigielee/Waltzing Matilda > From: GUEST,chrisj > Date: 16-Oct-01 - 10:04 PM > > In the 'resurrection' of this thread earlier this week > (which I hadn't read before) I saw a passing reference > to the Kokoda Trail, scene of Australia's hour of > greatest danger in World War II. Makes me wonder if > there are any songs dealing with it?

No songs that I jnow of, but here's a poem. It owes a lot to "Verdun" by the Countess of Noailles:

KOKODA Silence embraces the greatest name in our memory. Endless jungle along the Kokoda. Here our men came, one by one, Day by day, hour by hour, step by step, to stand with proud and stoic love. They fell in the grim ordeal.

Kokoda, their eternal and weeping widow bows down, her forested ridges a shroud on the corpse.

Pass by, and silence your empty praises of the hills which were shadowed with the wings of angels flashing from wounds in the bodies of men. Blood has flowed here so profusely that no other human voice has the right to add its vain and feeble lament to its rising incense.

See, in these gashed and bloodied hillsides, the power of love of "Patriotism" For which the bravest hearts have ben put beneath the soil. Here, each knew he came to die; the greatest sacrifice, made for all.

We were discussing this recently. Waltzing Matilda is the most hauntingly beautiful tune written. Why, who knows why? Maybe because the lyrics speak of the common man and his stuggle to just get by and also his ultimate humourous defiance.

Your problem in 'comparing' the tunes seems to arise at the point where you say:

"Now compare this with the music for the "Queensland version" at the Univ. Queensland site, which seems to be the sheet music published in 1903: Queensland score ..." (My bolding).

The "Queensland version" is not the 1903 published version ... it is a completely independent (folk?) setting of Banjo Paterson's published words ... and only found in the 1950s.

The progression of tune versions in the Craigielea line is:

1805: W Barr's setting of Craigielea 1893: Bulch's quickstep arrangement of Craigielea tune (Her husband claimed her composition only after her deat in 1939.) 1903: Marie Cowan's version, which she only ever claimed to 'arrange'.

If you listen to, or read, the appropriate section of Craigielea, followed by the two further steps, you will hear/see that each varies little from the other. I can supply a 2-page set of tunes showing these (plus the dodgy 'Berriman' "cut & paste") as well as a MIDI file of each played in the same key and tempo.

Virginia,

It is interesting that Waltzing Matilda survives all criticism ... and shameless parodies ... and still says something about Australians. Perhaps we are too close to say just what that is!

In the cold light of the evening (vs the heated rush of a lunchtime peek at the 'Cat) I realise that list should have read:

The progression of tune versions in the Craigielea line is:

1805: W Barr's setting of Craigielea 1893: Bulch's quickstep arrangement of Craigielea tune 1903: Marie Cowan's version, which she only ever claimed to 'arrange'. (Her husband claimed her composition only after her death in 1939.)

I may have been looking in the wrong places but I have not yet seen any reference to either of two parodies of Waltzing Matilda often sung in Australia. Reading through the thread I see reference to the Kuta so I thought I could deal with them here; both were sung to the Cowan tune.

The first purports to be an English original to the Australian but the last verse gives the game away. I'll omit the choruses as they're predictable to anyone who knows the original.

Waltzing a bulldog Once a jolly vagabond sat down by a lily pond under the shade of an old oak tree and he sang as he sat and waited 'til his billy boiled who'll come a-waltzing a bulldog with me.

Down came a hedgehog to drink at the lily pond up jumped the vagabond and grabbed him with glee and he sang as he shoved that hedgehog in his haversac you'll come a-waltzing a bulldog with me.

Down came the constables riding on his bicycle up rode the magistrates one two three where's that jolly hedgehog you've got in your haversac? You'll come a-waltzing a bulldog with me.

Up jumped the vagabond and sprang into the lily pond you'll never take me alive said he but he's sitting now in jail 'cause you can't drown in a lily pond who'll come a-waltzing a bulldog with me.

I first heard this in Melbourne in mid-1967 and, years later, was told it had been written by John Dengate. Some yearls later I was describing this provenance to somebody and was told that John Dengate had written it in 1967 while on board a passenger ship from Australia to Britain. While I've never asked John to confirm such details this would suggest the parody had made a rather swift return to Australia. Perhaps Bob Bolton could shed light on this.

The other parody was occasionally performed by Richard Leitch, a wonderful reciter in Melbourne during the 1970s. He recited it; even Screech, as he was known, would admit he wasn't much of a singer. It was known as "Wolgang Brunhilde" and the text was largely a mock-German rendition of the text as per Cowan.

I've (seemingly always) heard variants of the Waltzing A Bulldog parody around the folk scene ... but never specifically associated them with John Dengate. There's no reason why he couldn't have done it ... but I think he's always had targets he thought better needed a stir along.

I'll ask him, when I get a chance, but I've always thought this was just a good-natured Pommie stir arising from hearing Waltzing Matilda once or twice too often.

The word from chez Dengate is that John did not write the parody, although I can remember him throwing a verse or two into a performance. I wasn't back in the Sydney scene between late 1965 and Easter 1970, so I don't have any firsthand experience of that particular parody's first appearance ... but I always seemed to find it around the Pommy (that's local for English - in case anyone else is trying to follow this) end of folk clubs, &c.

I've heard a wonderful rewriting of the song by Don (i don't know his last name, from Sydney, you know him Bob: from the bush music club) that inludes the Samuel Hoffmeister conection and the reasons for his suicide. the song sure deserves to be here.

That's by Don Brian, who plays whistle with the Backblocks Musicians - who would normally be gathering here, in just under an hour, for a practice / session ... but we're not having a session tonight as we are all off to our friends' orchard down in the Southern Highlands tomorrow for an all-day session ... and, we hope, a relief from Sydney's increasingly sub-tropical summer!

I don't know of that song has being posted to Mudcat - and it's not in the DT ... or the links above, but I'll ask Don if he has any objection. It should be sung to the original Christina McPherson excerpt from the Craigielea, rather than Marie Cowan's popularist arrangement ... but it works to either.

(Damn ... Mudcat has taken its accustomed 21.15 (Sydney time) dive to the deep muddy ... again ... while I was answering the 'phone! Anyway - this MAY work.)

Don must have thought that title (which I believe I have heard him use ...) took too much more explaining! This is what he just e-mailed me (after he rang me ... about tomorrow - and I pinned him down for a copy of the song!).

BT: No, it's not Daryl's orchard. This is David Johnson & Ann Pidcock's The Laurels, an old orchard at Penrose (halfway between Sydney and Canberra) where David organically grows traditional and heritage species.

There once was a shearer by the name of Samuel Hoffmeister He burnt the Dagworth woolshed in Queensland's back country. And he sang as he fanned, the flames for the union Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me? CHORUS Who'll join the union, the union my darling Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me? And he sang as he fanned, the flames for the union Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me.

Down came the jumbuck, a symbol of the industry Owned by the landlords, the rich squattocracy. And the workers who'd lost to the scabs on the shearing board Saw the opportunity and grabbed it with glee. CHORUS Who'll join the union, ?

Down came McPherson, mounted on his thoroughbred Guarded by the army, troopers and judiciary "Are you the shearer who just burned down my shearing shed?" You will not take control of this industry from me." CHORUS Who'll join the union, ?

But he died like a dog on the banks of that waterhole Killed with his own gun , where no one else could see. But his ghost may be heard as you pass by the billabong Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me.

The Chorus may be changed to reflect verses if desired or use the original Sung to an approximation of Christina MacPherson's original tune (her remembered version of Craigielea).

Don suggests the song occasionally needs a bit if squeezing to fit the tune ... and he will vary pace for emphasis ...

I mentioned the original tune - as did Don in his e-mailed text. That is Christina MacPherson's 1895 notation of what she played to Paterson on the borrowed autoharp. This is somewhat sprightlier (more of a proper Schottische than a "barn dance" tune) compared to the Marie Cowan arrangement popularised by Inglis Tea Company's distribution of words and music (both modified) of Waltzing Matilda.

That original tune is not in the DT, but if you are interested in hearing it / playing it / singing it - I can email a simple MIDI file and/or the 'sheet music' from my music program ... if I have a suitable e-mail address (as we can't attach to a PM). If you wish, you can PM to me an address and I'll send them off.

I shall e-mail the whole range of permutations of the tune direct to you, along with the 'dots', in a sheet music form from my music program. However, I'll pop in the tune in the old "Alan in Australia" MIDItext format ("No longer supported by Mudcat"!).

If anyone stills runs this program (presumably on an older PC) the tune is in there. Otherwise, the BC readers/formatters can grab that from the bottom of the data ... and do most of what a real music program does.

Being the big creep (thread, that is) that I am, here is an aside note. In February of 2004 John Williamson did a concert in Springfield, Missouri---in the heart of the USA. Near the end of an absolutely wonderful show he sang "Waltzing Matilda" and was joined lustily on the chorus by his American audience. I think he was very surprised by the incongruity of an American audience joining him in the singing of the quintessential Australian song. And I enjoyed his show more than I can convey in words!

During my visit to Australia last year, I heard a song on a Greyline Tour that was about how to say hello in different ways. I know it has a phrase in it about the yanks say it =====. I cannot locate the song or artist, and I would like to purchase t he CD. Does anyone know the artist or song?

There's a song out there called G'Day (or, maybe Gudday ... or even Gudday, Gudday!), which is from our point of view - and contrasting with what people from all round the place might say.

It's not in my repertoire ... but searching on the various spelling of G'day or Gudday + Song & Australia might bring it up in a 'smart search'. I thought I had it on a cassette or CD - but have not yet excavated to the necessary stratum.

While Googling, I found this song, which is along those lines, although I suspect it isn't the one GUEST is looking for - no mention of the Yanks. Still, it's interesting, so I thought I'd post it anyway.

SAY G'DAY YOU AUSSIE CHILDREN

by Ted Egan

An old man came back from the Dreamtime He'd been there for thousands of years He'd learnt every language, he knew everything And he wanted most of all to hear some children laugh and sing. So off he went to Ernabella And he met a funny little fella And he knew just what this little boy would say When the boy said "Niente bella" The man said, "What'd I tell ya! That's how the first Australians say "G'day"

Now when he got to town, his face took on a frown 'Cos all the kids seemed to talk in a different way For a while he hesitated, then he smiled when he translated The kids had simply said to him "G'day! "Comme sta? Ti kanis? Yak sher mash? Hola, Nasilsin, Comment ça va? Konnichi wah? Koko si, Wie geht's, Shalom, Marharbah, Labadiena, Hodz vodz? Apa kabar. You've come from different places, but you've all got lovely faces So there's really not much more for me to say You're welcome to the country, but keep it looking good And don't forget to smile and say "G'day."

Slim Dusty G'day, G'day Track Listing: CD 1: 1. G'Day, G'Day 2. Good Old Feef Of Flathead 3. Christmas, When I Was Big As You 4. A Girl From The Land 5. I Can Still Hear Dad Swearing 6. Breakaway 7. How's Your Memory 8. Sittin' On The Old Front Verandah 9. The Johnsonsville Dance 10. Bloody Bonzer Mate 11. The Boss 12. Up The Old Nulla Road

I don't think there are any sound clips, so I can't check. I might find the words elsewhere, but this is something to go on.

Catherine: I don't know that one ... but I'll rattle a few cages that might! There have been a number of songs that set out to rejig Waltzing Matilda for a very different modern Australia - and some work quite well.

Business Arising: I knew I had responded to a thread after a "G'Day" song ... and I have found (and typed out) Slim's one - and it probably is the one our "GUEST" of 07 Jul 05 - 08:36 AM wanted. I knew I would have "Traced" the thread ... but, by the time I had come across a Slim Dusty compilation CD with the wanted song ... I forgot that it was this (already, and separately-) traced thread.

"We cut down the trees and the land we reclaimed We ploughed and we planted and we ploughed once again And again and again and again and again So now on a hot windy day, we watch our topsoil blown away. So who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me, The desert is marching down to the sea The day that it stretches from shore to far shore We'll go Waltzing Matilda no more."

That comes from reducing the "Search" criteria until it starts to match entries. I'll pursue it ... tonight. The credit seems to suggest it is Slim's own words ... but it's dangerous accepting secondary references.

Album Title LOOKING FORWARD, LOOKING BACK Looking Forward Looking Back, Never Was At All, There's A Rainbow Over The Rock, Matilda No More, The Bloke Who Serves The Beer, Paddy William, Clean Up Our Own Backyard, Old Time Country Songs, A Bad Day's Fishing, Port Augusta, Good Heavens Above, Hooks & Ride, Keela Valley Coals, Memories And Dreams, Looking Forward Looking Back (reprise) Catalogue Number 27160 2 TC, 27160 2 CDFirst released July 13, 2000

Album Title SIDE BY SIDE (THE DUSTY COLLABORATIONS) Track listing: Two Singers (One Song); The Biggest Disappointment; A Fire Of Gidgee Coal; Matilda No More; We're Just A Couple Of Boys From The Bush; Charleville; When The Rain Tumbles Down In July; Lights On The Hill; When The Currawongs Come Down; Duncan; Sunset Years Of Life; Country Revival; Pub With No Beer; Riding Through The Valley In The Spring; Christmas, When I Was Big As You; I Love To Have A Dance With Dorothy Catalogue Number ?? CD ? TCFirst released November 2002; only available as a bonus disc with re-release of Travellin' Still... Always Will or for a limited period from this website.

It would appear that Slim recorded the track, on his own, in 2000 ... then did a duo (presumably with Kasey Chambers) in 2002. I don't have either CD ... and I can't see anywhere likely to have posted Slim's lyrics (... yet ... ).

I finally located a compilation CD with what I presume to be the song you were chasing (OK ... back in June ...):

G'day, G'day (Rob Fairbairn) Image Music

G'day, g'day, How're you goin'? What do you know? Well, strike a light! G'day, g'day, and how're you goin'? You say g'day, g'day, g'day, and you'll be right.

Isn't it great to be an Aussie, Taking a walk along the street? Looking in shops - or buying a paper Stopping and having a yarn to people that you meet.

Down at the track (?) - or at a party Whenever you're stuck for what to say: If you want to be dinki-di, why don't you give it a try Look 'em straight in the eye and say ?

G'day, g'day, How're you goin'? What do you know? Well, strike a light! G'day, g'day, and how're you goin'? You say g'day, g'day, g'day, and you'll be right.

Now, when Italians meet they all go crazy, The blokes they like to hug each other too. The Yanks invented "Hi" and "See you later", While the Pommy will shake your hand and say "How do yo do?".

Now watch out for a Frenchman or he'll kiss you, The Spaniards go for holla and olé In the land of the cockatoo, or catching a didgeridu, When you meet an Aussie ? ten to one, here's what he'll say:

G'day, g'day, How're you goin'? What do you know? Well, strike a light! G'day, g'day, and how're you goin'? You say g'day, g'day, g'day, and you'll be right.

It's a greeting that you'll hear across Australia, From Geraldton to Gove and Gundagai It's as dinkum as the dingo and the dahlia, And you spell it with a G-apostrophe-D-A-Y ?

G'day, g'day, How're you goin'? What do you know? Well, strike a light! G'day, g'day, and how're you goin'? You say g'day, g'day, g'day, and you'll be right.

(Chorus) G'day, g'day, How are you goin'? What do you know? Well, strike a light! G'day, g'day, how're you goin'? You say g'day,g'day, g'day ? ? You say g'day,g'day, g'day, and she'll be right.

As sung by Slim Dusty

This seems to have been on 5 record albums over the years 1988 to 1998. I have only bothered to give the track listings for the first - named for it:G'day, G'day and the most recent: The Very Best Of Slim Dusty from which I have the words.

I imagine this last album should be still available ? compilations seem to have a good life expectancy.

Album Title G'day G'day Track Listing G'day G'day, Good Old Feed Of Flathead, "Christmas, When I Was Big As You", A Girl From The Land, I Can Still Hear Dad Swearing, Breakaway, How's Your Memory?, Sittin' On The Old Front Veranda, The Johnsonville Dance, Bloody Bonzer Mate, The Boss, Up The Old Nulla Road. Catalogue Number 7801874 Tc, 7801872 Cd First Released November 1988

Album Title A Land He Calls His Own Catalogue Number 8525214 Tc, 8525212 Cd First Released September 1991

Album Title Live Into The 90s Catalogue Number 7990254 Tc, 7990252 Cd First Released February 1992

Album Title The Anniversary Album No. 2 Catalogue Number 7896104 Tc, 7896102 Cd First Released October 1993

Album Title The Very Best Of Slim Dusty Track Listing Pub With No Beer, Lights On The Hill, The Biggest Disappointment, Three Rivers Hotel, Ringer From The Top End, Where Country Is, Leave Him In The Longyard, Plains Of Peppimenarti, Duncan, Charleville, Indian Pacific, Sweeney, G'day G'day, Walk A Country Mile, When The Rain Tumbles Down In July, I'm Going Back Again To Yarrawonga, Old Time Country Halls, Camooweal, We've Done Us Proud, Country Revival, Cunnamulla Feller, By A Fire Of Gidgee Coal, Losin' My Blues Tonight, Wobbly Boot Catalogue Number 7243 5 84235 2 5 CD Capitol Records / Slim Dusty Records First Released November, 1998

I hope you do get a chance to look back here (and I hope this is the one you wanted) ...

I think the odds are a lot better if you start a new, separate, thread - headed up with the (optional) "Lyric Request" header. A lot of 'Catters will always check to see if there's any way they can help.

Tacking onto the end of a fairly specialised (albeit "Australian") thread like this won't be likely to attract the right Aussie Country/Slim Dusty fan.

I don't have hte words you need, but I'll start a "Lyric Request" thread for you ... and hope someone else will help out!

Just in case our GUEST, Bleggy is only checking back to this thread ... to see if anyone has the lyrics requested ... I have posted my best effort from Slim's "Best Of ..." CD here: Lyr Req: Country Revival (Slim Dusty).

I might be wrong on a few words - it's seems like a 'live show' recording and some words are a bit muffled ... but it's pretty close!

Someone sang Waltzing Matilda at the AFL Grand Fianl at the MCG about 20 years ago. His version was slow and he had a gravelly voice. I can't recall his name. I think he was a Vietnam Vet, a cocky from central Victoria, and I heard him sing at the Maindample pub in about 1993.

Please remember to put a consistent poster name in the "from" box when you post a message. Anonymous messages risk deletion.Thanks.-Joe Offer, Forum Moderator-

Have heard a version of Waltzing Mathilda recently sung very slowly and hauntingly by a very deep, gravelly voiced male (black?) singer. Have had no luck locating. Any ideas who this might be??

The singer is Noel Watson (certainly not black) his version was picked up by a television chanel and used on a bicentennial program back in 1988 , and made number 16 on the pop charts. Noel had been performing since childhood in many bands including , The Thunderbirds , Tamlas and Saltbush ...... He performed his version of Matilda at many venues including the AFL grand final and countless TV shows. Today Noel lives a quiet life in Central Vic after some health issues and rarely performs.

Once jolly swagmen went humpin there swags, and stuffed jolly jumbucks in there tuckerbags, these days jolly junkies go on bag snatchin jags, and steal to buy the poison they need, the old swaggie just wanted a feed..

And who'll come a waltzing matilda with me ? oh banjo this countries not what it used to be, weve changed all your words and re-written your score, now its waltzing matilda no more..

Once henry and mary on a warm afternoon, rowwed down a reedy river to the broad bride lagoon, the song of the river is a long vanished tune, since they built the uranium mine, whats left now is just toxic slime..

and who'll come a waltzing matilda with me ? oh henry this countries not what it used to be, days pass with a whimper and not with a roar, and its waltzing matilda no more..

we cut down the tree's and the land we re-claimed, we plowed and we planted and we plowed once again, and again and again and again and again, so now on a hot windy day we can watch our topsoil blown away..

and who'll come a waltzing matilda with me ? the desert is marching down to the sea, on the day that it stretches from shore to far shore, we'll go waltzing matilda no more..

saturday night outside a kings cross hotel, kids with hard drugs and soft bodies to sell, Australia these children are half way to hell, is this the best deal you can give? well i find that hard to beleive..

and who'll come a waltzing matilda with me? hey anzac is this what you fought to keep free? a land fit for hero's or homeless and poor, and its waltzing matilda no more..

and who'll come a waltzing matilda with me ? this country could still be what we want it to be, with care and compassion the dream will restore , and we'll go waltzing matilda once more, we'll go waltzing matilda once more...

I once heard an excellent version of THE GAY FUSILIER on a CD. But I have been unable to locate it. Any assistance would be appreciated. I would of course be willing to purchase the CD if that is possible.

I 'Collected' (Stole) a Bulldog version from a lass who sang it at Uxbridge Folk Club Summer of 69 . Her version was defianetly in 4/4 and had the chorus 'Walking A Bulldog ' She sais she had just come back from OZ where she hd got it !

I used to sing a Matilda parody "Waltzing a Bulldog" in South Australia in early 1960s and don't recall any one else singing it. I don't claim sole authorship - the original Matilda spawned a lot of parodies, and WALKING A BULLDOG sung by one Tom Lewis (1989) is possibly mere coincidence (after all the song is dead easy to parody). It would be nice to think, however, that my version did get passed on. I sang it in various coffee bars in Adelaide, and won a talent competition with it in Bega, NSW, in 1963. I sang it in a very posh English accent, which Aussies (especially in rural areas) always found very amusing. I first heard it sung again at the Faversham (Kent)Folk Club c1978 - the singer was uncertain where he had first heard it.

Thanks to Albert and Dr.Price for nice words about Pigfoot. Our Pontardawe gig went very well. Good to see Leadfingers still hanging on in there.

Further to my previous message of today (and after reading the very interesting "Matilda" correspondenc - I am new to Mudcat), I print (for what they are worth) the words of parody I was singing in Aussie c1963 (South Australia and on hitch-hiking travels through Victoria and NSW). I called it "WALTZING a bulldog", as opposed to "WALKING a bulldog".

Waltzing a Bulldog (Dave Illingworth)

Once a jolly business man sat beside a lily pond Under the shade of an old oak tree And he sang as he watched and waited while his kettle boiled You'll come a waltzing a bulldog with me

Waltzing a bulldog etc

Up came a bulldog to drink down by the lily pond Up jumped the business man and grabbed him with glee And he sang as he stuffed that bulldog in his briefcase You'll etc

Up came the sergeant mounted on his bicycle Up rode the constables one, two, three Where's that jolly bulldog you've got in your briefcase You'll etc

Up jumped the business man and jumped into the lily pond You'll never catch me alive said he And his ghost may be heard as you pass by the lily pond You'll etc

Another parody is one I came across when studying philosophy in New Zealand in the early 1970s. It was a detailed synopsis of St Anselm's two Ontological Arguments for the existence of God. I don't know where I've put the purple-roneo copy I had and I can only remember the beginning and (sort of) the chorus:

Once a jolly friar found himself an argument, And he couldn't get it out of his mind, He thought that he could prove the existence of the Deity Just from the way that the words are defined.

Thus spake Saint Anselm, thus spake Saint Anselm, Thus spake Saint Anselm with weighty intent, That's what he said in his proof so ontological, If only we could understand what the hell he meant.

Inspired my much of the above, my old mate Dusty Miller (see also "Canal Catters" thread) has just written a new Matilda parody called "Firing up the Bolinder". Many Canal Catters will know what a Bolinder is. Dusty is no stranger to adapting Australian songs to suit a canal theme. On the DPN+1 CD "The Unknown Boatman", Dusty successfully adapted two songs from the repertoire of the late great Slim Dusty. The title song is adapted from "Paddy William" amd "There lies a workhorse" became "There lies an old motor". We are proud that Slim kindly gave his blessing to the two rewrites a year before he died.

Those interested in early recordings and this song in particular may be interested to learn that the National Film and Sound Archive in Australia has been conducting a survey of recorded "Sounds of Australia" and the ealiest known recording of Waltzing Matilda, sung in this case by John Collinson in 1927, has been added to the list at #8

The ordering of the numbers at the link is by chronological precedence (the first 10 starts with The Hen Convention of 1896 and includes Percy Grainger's 1919 setting of Country Gardens and Peter Dawson singing The Road to Gundagai) but the list can be sorted by vartious filters.

I am a fan of Noel Watson and i have a disc of him singing waltzing matilda, would be happy bto send a copy to you or e-mail you the song.let me know if you want it, my email address is daniel51@talktalk.net noel did sing this at the afl cup final and for my money its the best version ever cheers

To add to a bit of thread-drift from way way back. B Greenhaus remarked that you could sing Jabberwocky to Ode To Joy. Also, I find, to tune of any ballad: have just tried it out: to both the Young Laboo & the Matty Groves variants of Little Musgrave; to both the Bert Lloyd & the Matthew Hodgart versions of Bitter Withy; to Queen Eleanor's Confession; & to Young Johnston & the Young Colonel which I sing on my own Brewhouse record Butter&Cheese&All [BH 8904] ? & it goes fine to all. Indeed, as we all know, any ballad tune will do for any ballad: the association of particular tunes to particular ballads always seems a bit arbitrary to me. But anyhow, it was ballad-metre that Carroll used for Jabberwocky: so there you go...